or ShrankhlaHolecek, the Indian-born founder andCEO of Uma Oils,achieving successtook not just time,but a lot of travel. The journey startedon a farm in central India, whereHolecek’s ancestors began serving asAyurvedic physicians for Indian royalty

800 years ago. At age 9, Holecek was
sent to live with her aunt Uma at the
foothills of the Himalayas so that she
could attend a boarding school where
she could learn English. After that,
Holecek studied computer science
engineering at university in India. A
two-year stint with Dell,which had
her traveling between Austin, Texas
and Bangalore, followed. Then came
business school at UC Anderson in Los
Angeles, and finally a gig with the management consulting firm McKinsey.

“I loved the travel and all the prob-lem-solving I was doing with McKinsey,but at about the five-year mark, Istarted asking myself whether I wantedto be a career consultant,” Holeceksays. And that’s when the journey reallybegan — of self-exploration. “I wasalways embarrassed of my upbringingand had spent a lot of time runningaway from anything ethnic or rural,”Holecek says. “I had to learn to acceptwho I was,” she says. This epiphany,coupled with her McKinsey training,led her to think about what was bothunique to her and marketable.

For generations, Holecek’s ancestors had created customized oil blends,
based on time-proven Ayurvedic
recipes. (In Ayurveda, the traditional
Hindu system of medicine, personalized
treatments are used to bring the body’s
doshas — energies that govern all physiological activity— into balance.) When
she moved to Los Angeles, Holecek
saw the toll that increasing demands on
her time, energy and body were taking
on her appearance and well-being.

“Ayurveda was something that was
dear to my heart and to who I was,”
she says. So with access to her family’s
farm and ingredients, and a mission to
bring Ayurveda to the modern woman,
she began crafting Uma Oils, a line of
natural skin care and wellness products
that bridged her past and her present.

“Early on, I received feedback from
retailers that I should consider making
my line more French, because people
associated French with luxury. It was
very difficult because, as a consultant,
I was trained to listen to all feedback. I
actually had to learn to take that feedback and do nothing with it,” Holecek
says. She did, however, accept advice
from the creator of the chic Italian boutique Corso Como, Carla Sozzani, who
told her to upgrade her packaging. And
in May 2016, the company launched
with five face oils and five wellness oils
(which can be used all over the body)

housed in gorgeous glass containers.

Today, the line includes dozens of oils
for everything from anti-aging to better
sleep, and is distributed globally.

“Uma came from a need to express
myself, but also to do good — not for
just one person, but for a commu-nity," says Holecek. With Uma Oils,
she's made Indian luxury accessible,
and beneficial, to all. [

F

Uma’s new Pure Calm
Wellness Bath Oil (US$80;

umaoils.com) features
essences of chamomile
and vetiver, which ground
the mind, in a base of
jojoba and rosehip oils.

For this founder, learning to embrace what wasunique to her, and to trust her instincts, has paid off beautifully.